"Siniang, my poor daughter! It is our Cheng family that has failed you! If anything happens to you, how is your mother supposed to go on living?!"
Heart-wrenching wails echoed from a low mud hut in Dali Village. A crowd of neighbors, eager for gossip, gathered outside the mud fence.
Unaware villagers rushed over, drawn by the scent of a scandal:
"What happened? Didn't the Cheng family's live-in son-in-law just become a Xiucai, and wasn't the whole family supposed to rise with him?"
"Cheng Siniang was caught committing adultery! Scholar Meng's mother caught them in bed together and is divorcing her on her son's behalf. Siniang couldn't take the shame, so she went and hanged herself from a crooked-necked tree."
The villagers let out sighs of mixed emotion, though few felt any sympathy for Cheng Siniang, whose life or death was still unknown.
"Serving her right! I said long ago that Scholar Meng and Cheng Siniang wouldn't last—like a rabbit's short tail."
"Scholar Meng is handsome and book-smart, and he suffered greatly as a live-in son-in-law in the Cheng family. Now that he has passed the imperial exams, he is destined to become a high official and a man above men. How could the Cheng girl's looks ever match a Xiucai's wife? If the Cheng couple hadn't spent a fortune to buy a live-in son-in-law, nobody would have wanted her even if she married a widower."
"The Chengs are a bunch of oddballs. Instead of saving their family wealth for their own sons, they spent every last coin on a good-for-nothing. They make their own grandsons toil in the fields instead of sending them to school, yet they sponsored their live-in son-in-law's studies for six whole years! Look at them now—all that effort for nothing, drawing water with a bamboo basket..."
Inside the house, Old Madam Cheng was sobbing uncontrollably, barely kept upright by her eldest daughter-in-law, Mrs. Zhao.
"Mother, let's speak with a clear conscience," Mrs. Zhao said. "All these years, whenever the family had a little spare money, it all went to Little Aunt. The Cheng family has done everything humanly possible; we have nothing to reproach ourselves for."
Hearing this, Old Madam Cheng, her hair half-white, flew into a rage. She shoved Mrs. Zhao's hand away. "What do you know! You all bear the blame for Siniang coming to this! If she doesn't wake up, I... I'm going with her!"
Mrs. Zhao grew furious. "Mother, you are far too partial! Is Little Aunt the only child you gave birth to in this house? For her sake, do you want to abandon your sons and grandsons? Fine, Little Aunt's constitution was weak from birth, and the midwife said it was because Third Brother stole her nourishment in the womb. When she was seven, Dalang and Second Brother failed to watch her properly and accidentally let her wander into the back mountain, where a bear scratched her face, making it hard for her to find a match when she grew up. Her three brothers failed her, but twenty years have passed—surely any debt has been paid by now! Does she intend to cling to us like a blood-sucking leech for the rest of her life?"
The mere thought of her sister-in-law being caught red-handed in adultery filled Mrs. Zhao with shame and annoyance. "If she kicks her bucket and hides in Yama's Hall for peace and quiet, how are the young girls in our family supposed to find husbands in the future? The rest of us sisters-in-law can barely show our faces for the gossip! Today, she must be sent back to the Meng family!"
Anyway, Little Aunt had said it herself before: she was a Meng in life and would be a Meng ghost in death.
This would just grant her wish!
"Shut your mouth!" Cheng Dazhuang yanked his wife's arm. "Little Sister's surname is Cheng, and this is her home! Since when is it your turn, an outsider, to point fingers and talk nonsense? Go and see if Little Sister has woken up yet."
Separated by only a wall, Cheng Nuo woke up.
Having eavesdropped for quite some time, she realized she had time-traveled into the body of a woman who had committed suicide out of shame after being accused of adultery.
Cheng Siniang was gone, replaced by Cheng Nuo, a human survivor from the twenty-second century's apocalyptic era.
Having lived through flu outbreaks, devastating earthquakes, and the apocalyptic deep freeze, she had not perished at the hands of the infected, only to die by the betrayal of her own family.
To obtain medicine for her brother, who was suspected of infection, her parents had unhesitatingly sold her to the organization in exchange for serum. From the inhuman human testing labs to the blood-soaked training camps, the moment her last shred of utility was squeezed dry, being carved up and consumed had been her final end.
Cheng Nuo closed her eyes, hiding the pain and helplessness in her gaze.She never imagined that after dying, heaven would grant her a chance to live again.
Yet... why did she have to inhabit the body of Cheng Siniang, a woman who was the ultimate embodiment of a lovesick fool and an ungrateful wretch?
Her husband, Meng Xizhou, was a scholar who had married into her family. Since passing the Xiucai exam at thirteen, he had failed repeatedly.
To support their son’s pursuit of a scholarly career, the Meng family had exhausted all their savings. They were living hand-to-mouth and could no longer afford to fund his studies.
Having spent his whole life with books, Meng Xizhou was incapable of farm labor and looked down upon the peasants who clawed a living from the earth. He racked his brains, desperate to find someone who would continue to bankroll his education.
The Cheng family became his gullible benefactors.
As the youngest daughter of the Cheng family, Cheng Siniang was cherished by everyone. Because her appearance had been marred in childhood, her parents feared she would be mistreated by a husband’s family. They decided to take in a son-in-law who would reside with them. The original Cheng Siniang had even declared:
"The house is too noisy, and my husband can't study in peace. It’s cramped and crowded—what if his precious books get damaged?"
The elderly couple of the Cheng family had taken their own funeral savings and bought a quiet piece of land in a neighboring village, nestled between mountains and water. They built a house with green bricks and tiled roofs. Before the heating kang was even warm, the Meng mother and daughter had packed their bags and belongings and moved in, grandly justifying it as "looking after the son's (brother's) daily needs."
Because the original Cheng Siniang would return home weeping about how difficult life was—complaining she couldn't afford to provide her husband with nourishing food or buy him brush, ink, paper, and inkstones, or cover his travel expenses to the county seat for exams—the three sons of the Cheng family worked day and night at the docks, carrying heavy loads until their shoulders were raw and bleeding. Even old Mr. Cheng, advanced in years, would stay away for half a month at a time, traveling around castrating pigs just so he could bring home a few extra pieces of pork offal to nourish his son-in-law.
Even though the entire family gave their hearts and souls to her, they received not a shred of gratitude in return. Instead, she brought nothing but endless complaints:
"This pittance isn't even enough to buy a stick of ink. Eldest Brother, Xiaoyun is already thirteen. Next time, take him to work with you; he could do half a man’s labor. He isn't as clever as my husband, who is destined for a government career, so he should start toughening up early to help the family. As his Little Aunt, I’m only doing this for his own good."
"Eldest Sister-in-law, why are you glaring at me? Don't be so stubborn—a person’s potential is determined at birth. My husband passed the Xiucai exam at thirteen. You know what a Xiucai is, right? A future prime minister! This family will have to rely on my husband in the future. If Xiaotian doesn't show respect to his uncle-in-law now, he won’t even be able to get close enough to curry favor later!"
"Father, how can pork offal compare to lamb for brain development? Besides, my husband said that offal is just the innards of beasts, absolutely filthy. A refined man like him, who looks like a celestial being, how can he be associated with such foul things?"
"Oh? Second Sister-in-law, I didn't say I didn't want it. If my husband won't eat it, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law still will. My husband told me to look after them well, and I can't have him worrying about household matters."
In this rural area, where people favored boys and treated them like treasures while viewing girls as mere weeds or dust, the Cheng family's indulgence of their youngest daughter was incredibly rare—so much so that they were infamous for miles around.
Many mocked old Mr. Cheng for being a fool, failing to cultivate his own grandsons while treating a son-in-law like a precious gem. The rumors and gossip reached a fever pitch after Meng Xizhou failed his exams time and again.
Just as the Cheng family was hollowed out, no longer able to produce money to support their son-in-law’s studies, news arrived with much fanfare that Meng Xizhou had passed his exams.
The Cheng family felt as if the clouds had parted to reveal the sun. Everyone was ecstatic, believing Cheng Siniang had finally made it through the hard times and would enjoy a life of endless prosperity. Who would have expected that, just two days after the news of his success spread, rumors would break out that Cheng Siniang had been unfaithful and the Meng family intended to divorce her?
Before the Cheng family could go to the house to demand answers, someone shouted at the entrance of the village:
"Cheng Siniang has hanged herself!"